When designing a new chair, a mock-up is helpful in design development. In addition to the visual design, it enables a better assessment of comfort, stability and structure.  The set of chairs, title ‘Knot’ as a play on words, was made for a Chicago home were created using English oak with burr elm cushions and knots, this chair started with the idea of a handkerchief tied to a frame.  The handkerchief became cushions. The sculpting of the cushions demonstrates that comfort derives from the profiles rather than the softness of surfaces.

 

The concept for these arises from the principle that ‘cushions’ do not need to be soft to be comfortable.  If the profiles of the cushions is carefully designed, they encourage good posture and provide comfort over extended periods.

 

These elm cushions are suspended in laminated frames of English oak where the grain follows up the front leg, across the arm and down the back.  Where the cushions meet the legs, the knot is comprised of burr elm, for its close grain and superior texture for carving the knots.  The chairs have then been bleached and washed to a weathered finish.

 

Since the original, two more variations of the 'Knot' chair have been designed and crafted.